2:57 PM,
Sep. 25, 2013

The news conference of Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke appears Sept. 18 on a television screen at a post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Written by

USA TODAY

Wall Street wasted no time breaking out the champagne Wednesday when the Federal Reserve unexpectedly said it would continue jolting the economy with $85 billion per month in bond buying. And why not? Everyone likes easy money.

They're a lot less likely to enjoy the inevitable post-party cleanup.

The public has gotten a foretaste of how that will feel in recent months. Since the Fed began signaling months ago that it would begin "tapering" its stimulus, interest rates have spiked by more than 1 percentage point, driving up costs for mortgages and other borrowing. This is the unavoidable ...